Folding crate.



E. L. & A. F. MEYER.

FOLDING CRATE. APPLIOATION FILED HA3. 2, 1912.

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FOLDING (IRATE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2, 1912.

I and has for an 40 tion of the crate collapsed. Fig.

to 15, a (partition 17 UNITED STATES PgrENT OFFICE.

ERNEST L. MEYER AND ALFRED F. MEYER, or HAYS, Kansas.

FOLDING CRATE. I

. "'T Specification of Letters latent. Application filed March 2, }912. S e rla1 No. 681,267.

Patented Aug. 27, 1 .5

To all-whom. it may concern I .Be itknown that we, Ennns'r L. MEYER and ALFRED E. MEYER, citizens of the United States, residing at Hays, in the coun'ty of 6 Ellis and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in} Folding Crates, of which the following is a;

" specification. -This invention relates to folding crates object to provide a crate, formed of two collapsible mating halves, the-3 halves being adapted to be collapsed inde-z pendently of each other, and the bottoms of,

' the halve: being hingedly connected together} so that each half when folded may be then folded upon the mating half, whereby a; compact oblong bundle is presented whic may be stored'in minimum space:

A further object of the invention is toprovide one of .the halves with a sliding slat to permit of access to the interior ofthe crate when set up, further forming attaching means for lockin the tops of botli halves together. Vith the above objects in view the invention consists of certain novel details of construction after fully described and plan view of the crate. Fig. 2 is an end elevat-ion of the crate. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 3-3 Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 4-4 Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the crate collapsed.

'elevation of the crate collapsed.

Referring npw'to the drawmgsim Wh 10l'l like characters of reference designate similar parts, the crate is shown to comprise two mating halves, each consisting of a bottom 11 hingedly connected to a longi- 10, a side the edge of the tudina'l strip 12 secured to bottom. by hinges 13, similar: ends hingedl connected to the bottom by hinges similar to the ends and hinge ly connected to the bottom by hinges 1 8, and a cover 19 hingedly connected to the side by hingesQO, the latter permitting of the cover folding outwardly upon the side,

' the strip 12 being'of such height as to perlapsed.

the guides of the'slat and combination of parts here1nclaimed, it being understood that various modifications may 30 be made in the minor details of construction of the mating The covers are partitions and-ends when the latter are 001- lapsed upon the bottom.

The bottoms ar hingedly connected to! gether by hinges 1 which permit of the bottoms folding outwardly one upon the other after the sides have'been collapsed so that an oblong flat bundle as shown in Figs.

5 and 6 is presented when the crate is col! as For securing-the cover, ends, and parti-' tion of each half in operative position, lugs 22 are embedded in the top edges of thdnds and partitions and fit into suitable openings 23 formed in 70.

the cover.' Each end is I equipped with a lock consisting ofa bolt 24;

having an eyeat one end which receives a pivot pin 25, and having a thumb nut' 26;? threaded on the opposite end, the bolt being adapted'to be rocked upward and seat. in @1 5. notch 27 formed in theadjacent end edge (if the cover, a wear .plate 28 being fixed to the cover and forming an abutment for the thumb nut when the. bolt is rocked into: operative position. p .The side, ends, partition and cover of each half are preferably formed of skeleton structure equipped with wire mesh to ventilate thecrate. To permit of access to the intenor of the crate when in setup 'p0siti0n.l

@- slat 29 is slidably fitted to the longitudinal rec edge of the cover of one of the'halve U-shaped guides 30 being terminally cured to said cover and slidably receiving? the slat, the guides being all connected by a common strip 31. Secured to the free edge cover is a plurality of downwardly opening hooks 32 which hook over the common strip 31 and secure the covers of both halves together.

To knock down the crate, the thumb nuts are first loosened, and the ,locking bolts rocked out pf engagement with the covers. then rocked open and collapsed outwardly upon the related sides. The ends and partitions are then collapsed upon -their respective bottoms 14 and the sides then collapsed inwardly upon the folded partitions and ends. Each half at this stage is completely collapsed upon the respective bottoms. To complete the folding operation the bottoms are now folded outwardly one upon the other. For locking the parts in collapsed position,

books 33 are pivotally secured to the end 11 of the bottoms of a which will be rigid when is provided, the catch including a tongue 36 a which projects through {an orifice in the skeleton cover of oneof the halves and is adapted to seat in a notch 37 formed in the edge of the sliding strip, the tongue being provided with alaterally. directed extension 38.-which is directed toform a helical spring 39 the terminal of which is fixed to the cover. .The tongue is furthermore provided withafinger loop 40 by means of which the tongue may be withdrawn against the. tension of its spring. 7

i1r'0m the above descriptionit will be seen that a collapsiblecrate. is presented maybe ireadilyknocked down. into collapsed position in minimum time, and will occupy a minimumspace when in collapsed POSltlOIL in set up position,

a What isclaimed is: 'A knock down cr'ate comprising two halves each including a bottom, ends foldable inwardly upon said bottom, a side foldable upon' the collapsed ends, a cover foldable outwardly. upon the collapsed side, means for locking said ends and said cover together in set up position, U-shaped guides projecting outwardly beyond tudina ledge of the cover of one of said halves, a slat slidably fitted in said guides, a common strip connecting said guides, hooks carri d bythevfree longitudinal edge of the cov oft-he other said halvesengageable wim'said common strip, and bin es connecting the bottoms of both halves or folding movement, oneupon the other; In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures, in the presence of two witnesses.-

ERNEST L; MEYER.

the free long'i- QQALFRED F. MEYER, 

